Who Can Act for the Dead but He Who Hears Them?
by Dawnk41
Summary: Ever since birth, Naruto has been able to see the spirits of the dead, who he thinks of as "The Rotting Ones". These souls that all but him are oblivious to help to shape his life, as he gains an unenviable perspective on life - from those that are past it. Slightly insane Naruto. No pairings decided, probably never going to. Inspired by Kirsdarkenvar's The Ghost and the Darkness
1. The Ghost of a Beginning

Author Note: So. This is my first creative work... pretty much ever I will have made. I would appreciate constructive feedback on what I am doing right or wrong.

Disclaimer: I, Dawnk41, do not own Naruto.

Naruto Uzumaki had always seen and heard the world in a different way than most. It had taken him several years to realize that not everyone could see the people that he saw, and hear their words.

He didn't know why, and he didn't know who these "extra" people were. He had never thought of himself as lucky, but he was very fortunate that not many people would listen to what he had to say, as it could have landed him in a mental institution if he had managed to spread the tale of the "rotting people" that followed nearly every person in Konoha.

As it was, he didn't have anyone that he would have cared to ask about the rotting ones in his life. In that way, he wasn't lucky at all.

The Sandaime Hokage had many regrets in his long life, and Naruto Uzumaki's situation was merely the most recent. He tried to do what he could for the boy, but it wasn't much. He began by creating a law which prevented the citizens of Konoha from telling anyone who didn't already know about his status as the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

This didn't appear to have a marked positive influence on Naruto's life.

So he attempted to ensure that Naruto would be placed in an orphanage and cared for throughout his childhood.

After discovering that the orphanage workers did not act the same way around young Naruto as they did around the other orphans, he realized that perhaps it would be better for Naruto to have as little interaction with the villagers of Konoha as possible until he was old enough to weather their glares. So he arranged for Naruto to live by himself - at the tender age of 5.

Upon his first meeting with Naruto since he had placed him in the orphanage, Hiruzen was crushed to learn that Naruto was afraid of him. He wasn't sure why, as he had settled into his "Jolly old man" persona before allowing himself contact with the child. He didn't _want_ to scare him, after all.

Naruto's demeanor did not help this situation overmuch. By all accounts, Naruto was skittish, paranoid, and slightly unhinged. More so than would be expected, even with his upbringing. Naruto had a disturbing tendency to glance around suddenly, before his gaze settled on something only he could see, while muttering under his breath fearful gibberish. He appeared to understand what was being said to him, but he said nothing himself. Merely stared - either at the speaker or at nothing at all - while shivering slightly.

Hiruzen sighed, wondering what had gone wrong.

Naruto didn't know why the old man had come to talk to him. He was afraid that this encounter with an adult would go the same as the others. The only time the caretakers ever talked to him was to order him to meals, or mutter spiteful comments under their breath. But the worst part was the ghastly line of the... rotting ones.

Most people had very few of the rotting ones following them. The caretakers each only had two or three, and those were very faint, shimmery outlines that whispered to him, some angry, some sad. But this old man, he had so many. More than ten, which meant far more than Naruto could count.

And they were almost as solid as normal people! Rotting ones like that were confusing, because Naruto almost mixed them up with real people. The only telling signs about this kind was that they occasional moved through objects, like doors, or tables. This old man's rotting ones were angry, and several were coherent, which is more than the most could ever hope to be.

The old man smiled down at him, and said, "Hello Naruto, my name is Hiruzen. How are you today?"

Naruto merely shivered, and hunched further down into his seat.

One of the rotting ones behind the old man, this one nearly as tall again as the old man was, and wearing the same robes and hat, barked out a short laugh, and said, "How do you think the poor boy is doing, Hiruzen? You should have hidden him from the citizens better. You should have known how civilians would treat a known Jinchuuriki - especially in these circumstances."

The old man appeared to ignore the rotting one and continued. "I'm doing quite well myself."

Another of the rotting ones 'hmphed' and grumbled, "Are you now. News to me, from how you've been acting all week."

Naruto scrunched his eyes shut. He didn't like these rotting ones, they looked pretty frightening, being that solid, and speaking so clearly. It was almost worse than the legions of them that merely floated around, jibbering.

Hiruzen frowned. This was not a good sign. Naruto wouldn't talk, and his expression was worrying. Had he heard anything that Hiruzen had said? He called over a caretaker. "Has he been eating? Is he sick?"

The caretaker had a strained expression, but said professionally: "He isn't sick as far as we can tell. He's been like this as long as we can remember. I can't recall him ever saying a word. He shivers like that all the time. He doesn't eat much, and he stares at the wall a lot. We can't help him."

Hiruzen's eyes narrowed. Can't, or won't? But he knew better than to accuse this woman in front of him without proof. She was the type to take any accusation as an insult, true or not, and all he would accomplish was to anger this establishment.

He sighed. It would appear that Naruto's stay at the orphanage was at an end. This did not appear to be a healthy environment for him.

Hiruzen would arrange for an apartment near the academy to be set up for Naruto, and would set up watchers to ensure his security.

It was all that he could do for Naruto, for now.

 **AN: Due to my Personal Unhappiness as to the size of the chapters I have put out, I'm combining the first two, and I'm going to do my best to make sure that future chapters are of a similar size or larger.**

Uzumaki Naruto was unhappy. This was, sadly, the ordinary state of affairs.

Life had changed quite a bit for him recently, in that his stay at the orphanage had come to an end. He now had a small apartment of his own. The location was quite nice. The apartment complex was not extensive, and his neighbors did not appear to hate him, like most of the adults that he had known at the orphanage. That is not to say that the occupants of the other apartments were kind-they were not. In fact, they did not appear to show much emotion at all. When he encountered them in the hallways of the building, they would merely nod their heads at him and file on. He was glad for this, as he didn't like most of the rotting ones that followed them. All of his neighbors had extensive lines of the rotting ones filing after them, wherever they went.

Naruto was glad that he had no rotting ones following him. He didn't know if he would be able to bear the constant stares. As it was, he always had the option of running to his apartment and hiding under the covers of his bed.

This was where he happened to be right now, having run from a man in his building. This particular neighbor was followed by a ghastly apparition of a rotting one. The neighbor in question had black hair, red eyes, and lines on his face. He was actually the least dismissive of Naruto as his neighbors went. This man at least softened his gaze when it landed on him. However, the most prominent rotting one that followed him was horrifying. His form wavered and flickered, like some of the faint ones that he had seen in the past, except far more substantial. Almost more so than real people. He could not bear to look at him for long, but he couldn't help but notice that the right eye of the rotting one was missing, but in a manner that appeared to be devouring the essence surrounding it, creating the appearance of a black hole covering the right side of its face.

Naruto shuddered at the mere memory of it, but his gasping and wheezing subsided, now that he was safe from the haunting gaze of the lone eye in its face.

He sat there for a while, trying to suppress the memory, and finally fell asleep.

 **[TIME SKIP-TWO YEARS]**

Naruto started awake to a knocking at his apartment door.

He rubbed at his eyes and yawned before climbing out of his bed. He glared at his apartment door. Who had come to bother him now? He would be the first to admit that he was a bit of a loner. He didn't like the company of other people. They assumed that this was because he didn't like to be around people. In truth, it was because he didn't like to be around their followers.

At the age of six, Naruto didn't like ghosts, as he had learned they were called. This would be fairly common for a child to dislike. However, in Naruto's case, he saw them everywhere he went, and they never truly went away.

He trudged out of his bedroom and up to the door to his apartment, and suspiciously peered through the eye-hole. On the other side, stood a figure in white robes, with a wide-brimmed hat.

Naruto brightened up a bit. "Jiji!"

Naruto enjoyed the presence of but one man, and here he was, on the other side of his door. He quickly undid the latch and opened the door, letting in his pseudo-grandfather.

"Well hello there, Naruto-kun. How are you today." Hiruzen said warmly.

Naruto yawned before replying. "I'm fine Jiji. What did you come here for?" Normally, when Naruto wanted to see him, he had to brave the outdoors, skulking from alleyway to alleyway, until he reached the Hokage tower, where the Chunin on duty at the front doors would quickly escort him up to the Hokage office. He didn't make the trip often, only when he was truly desperate for Hiruzen's attention.

Naruto had grown used to the two ghosts that flanked Hiruzen everywhere he went. They stood there, in matching attire, on either side of his grandfather's shoulders, where they glanced at Naruto impassively. Naruto avoided their eyes. They were at least much better than the shapeless mob of ghosts that stood slightly further behind Hiruzen, filling the hallways of the apartment building. Their appearance was so blurry and faded that Naruto couldn't even tell if they were human anymore.

"Well Naruto-kun, today I came to inform you that you get to go the ninja academy next week. Won't that be exciting?" Hiruzen said, attempting to get Naruto into the spirit of anticipation.

Naruto seized up in alarm. What? He would have to go to the academy, with lots of other people? No! This was the stuff of his nightmares! He often had a dream where he would be walking, and he would suddenly find himself in the middle of a large crowd. He would attempt to escape, but there would always be someone in his way, either a person or a ghost, staring at him, until he would spin in a circle to see hordes of unblinking eyes, looking at him, until he finally awoke in a daze, covered in sweat, and tangled in sheets in a pile beside his bed. After a dream like that, he would have to check his entire apartment, to ensure that there was nobody watching him.

Naruto started breathing heavily, taking in huge lungfuls of air. Hiruzen looked at him worriedly. "What's wrong Naruto-kun? Is everything alright?" Hiruzen put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, attempting to turn Naruto's head to look towards him.

"What do you think is wrong with the child, Hiruzen? He obviously hasn't had the best experience with people in general, and you want to shove him into a class with thirty other kids? Does this really strike you as the best idea?" One of the ghosts at his side said. The other ghost replied to this, "Well, he has to get the child acclimated to others somehow, the academy is probably the best thing for that. Still, I agree that this won't be pleasant either way for Naruto."

"Please Naruto-kun, tell me what's wrong. Let me help you." Hiruzen pleaded. He wanted to assuage Naruto's fears so that he would agree to go to the academy. Hiruzen was desperate to get Naruto some friends and end his self-imposed isolation.

"I-I don't want to go somewhere with lots of people Jiji. They'll be mean to me, like they used to be." Naruto quavered. He had never really recovered from his younger years at the orphanage. It never took much to force him to recall a youth devoid of pleasant human contact.

Hiruzen sighed, and stated, "Naruto-kun, I promise you this. Your time at the academy will not be like your time at the orphanage. You will get to interact with others your age, you'll be able to learn how to be a ninja with them, and you will be able to make friends. Please, let me help you, come to the academy." Hiruzen was mentally crossing his fingers. He might have to talk to some of the clan heads that he knew would be having children in the class with Naruto, but he had to help Naruto make some friends.

Naruto shivered, but in the end, he nodded his head. "Okay Jiji, but you promised."


	2. Making a Friend

_AN: Sorry about the long delay! I have horrible Writer's Block when I'm writing this story. I am trying to solve that by writing up a plan for how I want this story to go, (Yes, I realize I should have done that before I even started.) and I think that will help updates become more consistent._

I'll just take a look at the reviews I've gotten, and respond.

 **madeyemoody95:** Yes, Naruto's life is not a happy one. We'll see if it improves after his time in the academy.

 **You are troublesome:** Erm... I am male.

 **guest:** Thanks!

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto._

Chapter 2: The Academy

 _Naruto POV:_

Naruto was nervous. Today was the day that Jiji had said would be the beginning of the Academy for kids his age. This was the reason for his lying in bed, shaking lightly. Why did he agree to go? What had he been thinking? This would end the same way that every excursion from his apartment did, with him running home, desperately trying to avoid the piercing stares of people and ghosts alike. It was simply the way that everything always ended.

He turned his head, and looked at his clock. It was getting close to Six. He had to be at the Academy by Seven, or he will have broken his promise to Jiji. He didn't break promises. Naruto got out of bed, and showered. After drying himself off, he carefully dressed himself. His shirt, a faded navy blue t-shirt that probably had some sort of text, or logo on it at one point, but was now old enough that any such decoration had long since faded into an indecipherable blur. His pants were a pair of jeans that had seen much better days, as they had patches and tears all up and down the legs. Not that Naruto noticed these things anymore. They were just his clothes, and that was the way they were. He had several other such t-shirts, all given to him by Jiji, and another pair of jeans.

He then ate some breakfast, consisting of cereal and milk. On a weekly basis, one of his neighbors would drop off groceries outside his door, and he would dutifully put them away. He hadn't directly faced a Konoha merchant in over a year, after a disastrous incident that involved him getting chased out of a general store by a wild-eyed clerk. Ever since then, Jiji had one of his neighbors do his shopping for him. He had never discovered which of his neighbors did it, or whether or not they took turns.

He picked up the puzzle cube that Jiji had given him for accepting to go to the Academy. It had six different colored squares on all the faces, and the goal was to scramble the sides, before reorganizing the cube to group the colors back together on all the sides. He had since then memorized all the patterns that it could produce, and how to twist the cube in order to place the colors back in order. It was calming, relaxing, and strangely pleasing to fiddle with. He had taken to absentmindedly twisting the cube in and out of alignment when he was thinking, and he did so now.

He glanced at the clock again. 6:40 AM. He sighed, his shaking subsiding in the face of inevitability. He would just have to go, and see what happened. Jiji promised, hadn't he? He had promised that this wouldn't go badly. His Jiji wasn't a liar. He trusted his Jiji.

He opened up his apartment door, glanced down both hallways, and sighed in relief that the way was clear. Running into the ghosts that followed his neighbors might have shaken his resolve.

He turned and locked the door to his apartment, before skulking down the hallway, and out the door of his apartment complex.

 _Hiruzen POV:_

Hiruzen sighed after watching Naruto's nervous progress towards the Academy. A child shouldn't have to act with such paranoia for something as simple as walking to school. Where had he gone so wrong? According to all of his sources, nothing that the child had to deal with should have resulted in such mental stress. Whenever he spoke with Naruto, he noticed the child looking over his shoulder, and had to suppress the urge to check to see what the child was looking at. According to Itachi, Naruto had a near panic-attack upon meeting him, also not seeming to look at Itachi himself, but rather at someone that only he could see. Most perplexing indeed.

What on earth could Naruto see that they couldn't, and was it merely the result of stress, or something else?

 _Yamanaka Ino POV:_

Ino had had an unusual few days, by her standards. She had spent the past week in an excited buzz, as she would finally be starting the academy, with her friends Shikamaru and Choji. Yesterday, the Hokage had come to visit her father, and spent half an hour in murmured discussion with him, with her trying, and failing, to listen in. After the conversation, the Hokage had left, and her father came out and spoke with her.

"Ino, in your class tomorrow, there will be a sad boy with blond hair. He doesn't have any friends, and needs some." Her father then winked at her, and stood up, before retreating back into his office, leaving Ino deep in thought.

Was that why the Hokage had come? To ask her father to get her to befriend some new kid? Weird, but it must be important for the Hokage to be the one to ask.

So she would. She would make friends with this new boy, and she would ensure that Shikamaru and Choji did too.

So today, she was prepared to go to the Academy and search out this new kid, and drag Shikamaru-baka and Choji-kun to him as well, so that they could be friends.

 _Naruto POV:_

He stood outside the door to the classroom, trembling slightly. Here goes. He opened the door silently and slid into the room. There were lots of children in the room already, yelling and laughing, and a Chunin teacher at the front desk, making some marks on a paper while taking glances around the room. His eyes fell on Naruto, and grew cold. Naruto tensed up, but the Chunin merely looked back down and made another mark on the paper. Naruto didn't quite relax again, but he looked around the room for an empty seat. He saw one next to a blonde-haired girl and a boy in a large overcoat, and he quickly slunk over and sat in it.

"Oh, hi! What's your name? I'm Ino. Yamanaka Ino." A chipper voice to his left piped up.

He flinched, before glancing to the side. It was the blonde girl, looking intently at him. Not coldly, which was nice, but still staring at him. "Uh, I'm Naruto." he mumbled, before shrinking into himself a little. This had happened before. People would be perfectly friendly until he told them his name, and then they would either get angry, or impassive and walk away from him.

But this girl didn't seem to care. "Naruto, huh? Well, this is Shikamaru." She kicked the chair of the boy in front of her, a skinny boy with a strange, upright hairstyle who looked like he had been napping at his desk. "And this is Choji." She leaned back so that the boy on the other side of her from Naruto could lean forward and wave. He was... larger, than most kids, and was currently munching on a bag of potato chips.

"Um, Hi." Naruto waved back and smiled uncertainly at the boy, who seemed satisfied at this and leaned back in his seat, continuing to eat his snack.

"So, Naruto, are you excited for class? I've been waiting to go to the Academy for years!" The girl chattered on, looking at Naruto expectantly.

Naruto blinked, uncertain how to answer this. "Um, I don't know too much about the Academy. Jiji told me that I could come here and make friends." He spoke, less confident about the last part.

"Oh! That's neat. We'll be your friends, won't we?" She looked around. Shikamaru grunted an affirmation, while Choji nodded enthusiastically. "So? Will you be our friend?" She smiled at him.

Naruto couldn't believe his luck. He smiled, and nodded hugely, grinning. He only saw a few ghosts in the whole room. They were standing behind the teacher. Most of them were formless blobs, but there were two solid ones standing behind the teacher, with fond smiles on their face. This would be good for him, as long as the teacher didn't stand next to him that much, he could handle that many ghosts.

Maybe the Academy wouldn't be that bad after all.

"Alright, kids. Listen up." The teacher began. The chatter in the room didn't drop very much. "I said LISTEN UP!" The teacher's head seemed to expand while his voice boomed. The room silenced itself immediately. Naruto flinched and shrank in his seat.

"Welcome to the Academy, kids. I will be your teacher for the remainder of your time here. My name is Umino Iruka. Today, we will be going over class procedure, as well as getting all of the parent or guardian signatures for the class out of the way."

Naruto sat in his seat, rapt with the discussion, not wanting to get on the wrong side of his instructor. Iruka continued, detailing the things that the course would cover for their first year, and explaining what was expected of all the kids in the class. After about an hour of this, Iruka glanced up at the clock, before saying, "And now, we will have a half-hour break. You may go out to the recess area. I expect all of you back in here at 8:35 sharp. GOT IT?" He punctuated the end of the sentence with a shout and head expansion. The kids all nodded, wide-eyed. "Dismissed!"

There was a stampede to get out the door from most of the kids. After the rush, Shikamaru got up, and said to Naruto, "Come on. If we don't meet up with Ino out there, she'll get troublesome." He slouched his way out the door. Naruto hesitated, and then got up and dashed out the door.

Once out in the recess yard, he glanced around, before spotting Shikamaru sitting down with his back to a tree, hands behind his head. Choji was sitting nearby, a new bag of chips in hand, and Ino was waving to him. He grinned, before rushing over to them. Ino began chattering about the class, with Shikamaru and Choji interjecting comments occasionally. He was content merely to sit down in the presence of people that acted friendly to him.

"What about you, Naruto? Don't you think that Iruka seems like a good teacher?" Ino interrupted his thoughts.

Naruto hesitated, before stating "I think we'll be able to learn a lot from him." Ino accepted this and chattered on.

He got out his puzzle cube, and started fiddling with it. Shikamaru's eyes opened and watched the blond manipulating the cube's sides with ease. After a few minutes of this, the pineapple-haired boy spoke up. "Hey, Naruto, could I see that a moment?"

Naruto paused, internally debating for a few moments, before passing the puzzle cube to Shikamaru. Shikamaru twisted the cube back and forth for a few moments, when suddenly a new voice interrupted their discussions.

"Hey, you!" A red-haired boy with narrowed eyes walked up to Naruto. "I heard about you from my parents. What are you doing here?" He said disparagingly.

Naruto shrunk a little, searching for words, but not finding any. "My parents said that you should never be allowed to be a ninja." The boy continued. Tears sprang up in Naruto's eyes, and he continued to try to speak.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" Ino jumped to her feet. "What's your problem? I don't care who your parents are, but they sound like idiots to me!" The boy bristled at this.

"You take that back!" He sprang at Ino, who obligingly started clawing at the boy in turn. The other three boys looked on in shock for a moment, before Choji sprang to his feet and attempted to pull the two brawling children apart, with the help of Iruka who appeared to materialize next to the group.

"Yamanaka Ino and Tsurumi Gao, you two have detention this afternoon. If I ever find either of you fighting on school property without authorization, you can expect more detention as well! Now, apologize." Iruka stated firmly.

After two insincere apologies, the red-haired Gao ran off. A frazzled Ino retook her seat on the ground. "Thank you." Naruto said in a small voice.

Ino brightened up at this. "No problem. What was that kid's deal? What a jerk." She said dismissively.

"Here, Naruto." Shikamaru handed back his puzzle cube, solved. Naruto started scrambling it again.

As they walked back towards class, Naruto smiled. He had friends! 

_Hiruzen POV:_

Hiruzen smiled, before putting away his crystal ball. Good! His discussions with Inoichi, Chouza, and Shikaku appeared to have the desired results. Naruto appeared to be much more stable with others his age. He didn't look at things that no one else could see, except a few times, with Iruka. It appeared that Naruto only saw... whatever he could see, around adults. Ominous. But all the same, Naruto's situation was greatly improved now.

He could finally relax about Naruto's situation.


	3. Meeting a Ghost

AN: So far, so good! The story is coming together nicely, I think. I am planning ahead with a story summary that I work on from time to time. This should help make the story proceed on schedule. Thanks to all the people that have been reviewing and favoriting/following! It means a lot to me!

I realized something terrible. I was waaaaay off the mark on Shisui's ghost following Itachi when Naruto was only 5. That would not make sense. Shisui wasn't killed a full two years prior to the Uchich massacre, it was more like a couple months. So... Yeah. In this fic, Shisui was killed two years before the massacre. Okay? Okay. Good.

Review Responses:

 **Jasmine:** Naruto doesn't want to bring any more attention to himself than he has to. In his experiences, most attention has been negative. He knows that the Hokage cares for him, but it doesn't change the fact that it is not in his nature to bring attention to himself. If the Hokage is to find out about Naruto's ability to see ghosts, he's going to have to put it together himself. Which he very well might! He isn't "The Shinobi Professor" for nothing!

 **guest:** You hit this chapter on the head. Read to hear more.

 **Kitty:** Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 3

 _Yamanaka Ino POV:  
_

Ino waved to Choji, Shikamaru, and Naruto as they filed out the door with the rest of the class. (minus Tsurugi Gao, who had detention like her.)

She was glad that her plan to keep the seat next to her open so that Naruto would come to them was a success. She purposefully took spots near the door for her and her friends and aggressively defended the empty spot on her right from all comers so that Naruto would gravitate to it.

She scowled at Gao, who sat at the opposite corner from her, sullenly refusing to meet her gaze. Iruka finished up some paperwork on his desk before standing up and speaking. "Now. Tell me why you two were fighting during break today." She glanced at Gao, who remained stubbornly silent.

Since Gao wasn't going to begin his explanation, she took the opportunity to elaborate. "Gao was insulting Naruto and he even made him cry!" Iruka's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Gao, is this true?" He asked. Gao hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Gao, I don't think I should have to tell you that insulting or belittling your classmates is not allowed, no matter who they are, or what you or anyone else thinks. Got it?" Gao nodded again. "Good. Well, Ino, I would like to commend you for standing up for a friend. I think that your reasons are adequate. You can leave now."

She brightened up. "Thanks Iruka-sensei!" She bounded to her feet and quickly wove through the desks between her spot and the door.

Gao looked up, and whined. "Wait, what? What about me?" He said indignantly.

Iruka looked coolly down at him. "As for you, your reasons are NOT adequate. YOU will be digging trenches for our field excercise tomorrow under my supervision for the next hour. I have already informed your parents."

Ino skipped out the door, shutting it just after she heard Gao's final frustrated squawk. Perfect! Not only did she get to beat on some idiot that wanted to insult her friend, but she was praised for it! Ha!

She wondered why someone would say something about Naruto to their kid like that, though.

 _Naruto POV:_

Naruto slunk through the streets as fast as possible. This was one of his least favorite times of day to be out and about. There were lots of the people that hated him around now, in his experience. He wove through crowds, hanging at the very edges of them, never standing still long enough for someone to recognize him. At last, he quickly opened the door to his apartment building and stepped through, closing it firmly behind him. He started down the hallway towards his apartment, and saw his neighbor with the red eyes standing there. Behind him, there stood the horrifying entity that was the cause of his discomfort at this particular neighbor's presence, the ghost with the black hole for a right eye was behind him. Naruto stiffened up at the sight of that ghost.

"Greetings Naruto-kun. How was your first day at the academy?" His neighbor asked.

What? His neighbor was talking to him? This had never happened before. Normally, his neighbors in this building would merely nod to him as they passed, moving on towards their tasks that they were constantly rushing towards, never stopping, never speaking. "Um, it was okay, uh..."

"Itachi. My name is Itachi Uchicha. I am very glad to hear that, Naruto-kun." His neighbor finally moved past him, vanishing through the door to the outside. The ghost, however, lingered, its terrible eyeless stare through its right eye piercing through Naruto's soul.

" _You see us. Whenever you meet Itachi, you instead look at me. Never at him._ " A strange echoing voice came from the thing. Naruto's throat constricted. " _You are the first to see us. Nobody sees us. Except for you. Why?_ "The thing stepped closer. It's horrifying gaze warping, flickering over Naruto. " _Why can you see us? Tell me!_ " It appeared to be growing angry. Naruto crouched, throwing his arms over his head in an attempt to ward the thing off.

"I-I-I don't know! I don't know why I can see you! I've never wanted to! Please, leave me alone!" He wailed. The thing stilled.

" _I... apologize. I did not mean to frighten you so badly._ " The vortex over its eye receded, leaving merely a tiny spiral of blackness spinning over the place where his right eye would be. " _Do you know what I am, child?_ "

Naruto slowly looked up, to the ghost. "Um. You-You're a ghost, aren't you?" He hesitantly asked.

" _Yes. I am dead. In life, I was called Shisui._ " The ghost paused. " _A child that can see the dead... Aha. You have no idea how important this makes you._ "

Naruto grimaced in confusion. "What? How could that make me important? It's a curse!"

The ghost threw back it's head and laughed uproariously. " _A curse! Perhaps. All the same. You should keep this hidden. You have no idea the sorts of people that would exploit this of you. No idea at all._ " The ghost chuckled grimly. " _There are those that would use you to be able to talk to their loved ones. There are those that would use you to discover the happenings of battles and assassinations long past._ " The ghost's expression turned dark. " _But most of all, there are those that would use you to have the dead spy on foes, train the living in the arts of techniques long dead, and many more violent acts. Yes, you should keep this power of yours hidden, for now..._ " The ghost drifted off, once more following Itachi.

Naruto stayed where he was for a few more minutes, before pushing himself to his feet and dashing down the hallway, fumbling with his lock for a few moments before bursting into his apartment and locking the door. He dove under the covers of his bed and trembled uncontrollably. A ghost had talked to him! They never talked to him. He had overheard the two ghosts that followed Jiji around grumbling about the various things that Jiji said and did, but they had never talked directly to him. What did this mean?

He stopped. Did this really mean that he was important? Could HE really be important? He didn't think so, based on how everyone had always treated him. He lay quietly on his bed. Drifting off, just before unconsciousness claimed him, he thought to himself, _I need to learn more about ghosts, so that I'll be prepared if they ever start following ME._

 _Itachi POV:_

Itachi waited on the roof of a building, contemplating. Could he really go through with this? He had met with Danzo earlier, and after his report that the rest of the clan were hell-bent on the coup, Danzo had ordered him to stop the coup at any means necessary, tonight. He sighed, and covered his eyes, going through the actions he was going to take tonight in his head. If he started with the familys at the edge of the district, and worked his way to the gates separating the district from the rest of Konoha, he would have the highest chance of finishing everyone off before anyone was the wiser. He went through the path he would take in his mind, before faltering when he reached his own home. He was going to kill his own parents. Tears dripped down his face. He would finish them last, so as to keep his resolve for the task. And Sasuke... Itachi's throat constricted. He didn't think he _could_ kill Sasuke. After wrestling with himself for a few minutes, he decided that he would make that a condition. Professionally, he balked at the idea of putting a condition on whether or not he would go through with his orders, but personally, he thought, to hell with it. If the elders were going to have him slaughter the Uchicha clan in order to prevent the coup, then he felt entitled to saving the life of his brother, who had no idea of the coup anyways.

After glancing at the sky, and noticing that darkness would soon fall, he got up.

Time to get to work.

 _Sasuke POV:_

Sasuke was walking home from the house of his friend Reida Yuusoda. Well, slight friend. He personally thought that Reida was not dedicated enough to learning to be a ninja, but he didn't judge to harshly. Reida WAS civilian-born, after all. Still, it was fun to play the board-games that Reida owned with him. He could see himself doing it again, to relax after training. When he reached the gates to the Uchicha compound, he walked up to them. He frowned when they didn't open as he approached. Where were the gate-keepers? Normally they kept a sharp lookout on incomers, and if they were obviously part of the clan, like Sasuke, the doors would open as they grew near. Others would meet with the gate-keepers and provide reasons as to why they should be allowed admittance.

He looked through the gates, but the gate-keepers were nowhere to be seen. He struggled with the gate himself for a moment, and managed to pull it open. It was fairly dim outside by now, and he blinked through the darkness. What was going on? He pulled the gate shut after him.

He moved cautiously now, edging his way down the street, narrowing his eyes as he peered around him in the darkness. Suddenly, he felt something with his foot. He crouched down to look at it, and gasped. This was one of his cousins! Was he... dead? He stumbled to his feet and started running down the street towards his house, desperately ignoring anything he kicked or stepped on in his rush. He burst through his front door and ran to the living room only to stop, jaw agape, to see his mother get cut down by his brother, and join his father on the floor, blood pooling into each other.

Sasuke fell to his knees. "Itachi... why?" He gasped out.

"Foolish little brother. I did this to test myself. But you... you're not even worth the effort." Itachi strode towards Sasuke, who couldn't get himself to move. Itachi took Sasuke's hair, and jerked his face up to face his own, and stared into Sasuke's eye. Itachi's left eye started swirling and spinning into a nightmarish blur of red and black, and Itachi said a single word. "Tsukiyomi."

Sasuke screamed. 

**2 Weeks Later**

 _Naruto POV:_

Naruto had never felt more comfortable in the presence of others. With his new found friends, he never felt unwanted. Ino made sure to keep Naruto in the midst of any discussion that she and Shikamaru were currently having. Shikamaru found that Naruto enjoyed puzzles, and was attempting to teach him Shogi. Choji was all-around friendly. He would share snacks occasionally. All in all, they were a great group of friends, though Naruto would have settled with far worse.

The group had even attracted Kiba Inuzuka, who's brash and honest manner didn't prevent the boy from making his own opinion on Naruto instead of listening to the opinions of others. Naruto was glad for that.

The class instructor, Iruka, had stopped his expression from tightening whenever he saw Naruto, and treated him cordially. Naruto was grateful for that.

He had avoided any more conversations with ghosts, and attempted not to look at them so as not to tip them off to the fact that he could see them. He remembered his conversation with Shisui, and he didn't want to get all of those people that would try to use him for his ability after him.

Iruka stood up, and spoke. "Alright class. Time for the lesson." After a token decrease in the volume, he used his head expansion technique and shouted. "I said SETTLE DOWN." The class quieted. "Alright. Today, we'll begin with five laps around the field, and proceed to History."

Suddenly, the door opened in the back of the room. In walked Sasuke Uchicha. The class gained a somber air, as everyone remembered the Uchicha massacre two weeks prior. Sasuke went to his seat, and sat in silence.

Reida, who sat next to him, looked to him, and said, "Uh, are you okay man?"

Sasuke stiffened, before replying. "I'm fine."

Reida hesitated, before trying again. "If you need anything, just-"

Sasuke snapped at him. "Shut up."

Reida looked insulted, but turned away.

Iruka cleared his throat, before continuing. "As I said, let's go out to the field and begin doing laps."

The class started getting up, and everyone moved to go outside. Ino looked over to Naruto, and noticed that he had gone stiff, eyes wide. "Are you okay, Naruto? We need to go outside to do laps!"

Naruto snapped out of his daze, and stuttered. "A-alright, l-let's go."

Ino looked at him oddly, but shrugged and started following the others out.

Naruto was panicking. There were dozens of ghosts in here, following Sasuke! Maybe more, he didn't even want to try to count them. He stood frozen for a moment, but started dashing through them to get outside.

Why did this have to happen? What HAD happened? Naruto didn't know the answers to those questions, but he did know that he must be cursed. Ha, Shisui thought this was a gift?

He didn't know what he was talking about.


	4. Nightmares

AN: Sorry for the wait, I'm in the process of moving back to my hometown in order to go to college. This is taking up a lot of my current excess time, but I'm going to try to continue to be able to write this. Updates might just come a little less often, that's all.

Review Responses:

 **bad azz:** Thanks! I always appreciate seeing positive feedback on this story.

 **guest:** Kushina's current location is a secret. But it does have a MAJOR impact on Naruto, so let's keep quiet on that for now.

 **earendil18:** Yes, Minato's ghost is kinda obvious, but as I told guest, Kushina's current locale is integral to the plot. All I will say about it is that it's **not** going to be something as idiotic as, "Madara/Tobi/Masked Man hid her ghost from Naruto."

 **blood enraged:** Thanks!

 **madeyemoody95:** Yes, the Uchicha massacre has an EXTREMELY LARGE impact on Naruto's life, as you will see in this chapter.

 **Tomb Raider and Walking Dead:** Thanks, I've been trying to put myself into the mindset and write from the proper viewpoint.

 **guest+Amokynstrom+bluebug00:** Thanks a ton!

Yall can thank **bluebug00** for reminding me that I had this story to write.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 4

 _Hiruzen's POV:_

Hiruzen sighed sadly, distractedly smoking on his pipe. Where had it all gone wrong? Just a few weeks into his first year at the academy, Naruto had fallen back into his overly paranoid ways, to the point where he had gotten even worse than ever. He would mumble to himself constantly, flinch away from human contact, stare distractedly at empty corners, tune out speech...

Frankly, Hiruzen would be considering putting the child into a mental institution... if he actually thought they would treat him like a normal patient and help him. As it was, he could only watch to make sure that Naruto did not become a danger to himself or others.

He just hoped that the few friends the boy had would be able to see how badly the boy needed them, because if he lost those few links to a normal life, he just might lose his sanity.

Well, if you were of the opinion that he hadn't already.

 _Naruto's POV:_

He awoke, heart racing. He'd had that dream again.

 _Screams surrounded him. He towered over the city, fur rippling like fire, to the point where the flames blazing on the buildings around bled straight into his coat. He was not merely a beast, crushing with his paws, he WAS the disaster occurring in this city. The tremors that shook the city were not his footsteps, but his heartbeat. The blasts of lightning striking the citizens were his roars of rage. The ninja in the city could do nothing to stop him, for he was more ethereal than physical in his assault._

 _But the rain falling from above was his tears, born of the frustration of watching from within, for the forces moving his body were not his own intentions._

 _THOSE DAMNABLE EYES HAD DONE THIS._

It was at this point that Naruto had woken up, tears dripping from his eyes as he surfaced from the despair and rage that the dream had once more thrust upon him.

What was this dream? What did it mean? He hadn't the slightest idea how it applied to his life. In any case, he had to prepare for the academy. He may not enjoy his classes, but he had promised Jiji that he would go, and Uzumaki Naruto didn't go back on his word.

He climbed out of bed, and took a shower. He ate breakfast, though his stomach was loathe to accept nourishment, as tense as he was. He was ready now, he was completely prepared to head to the academy.

But he stood facing the door all the same, waiting, perhaps for something to occur that would free him from his obligation, such as if he were to suddenly come down with an illness or injury. He concentrated on his condition.

Drat, he was completely healthy.

He took a deep breath, and opened his door. Peeking out, he saw the hallway was devoid of life.

But not ghosts. There were a few ghosts milling about in front of the air vent. He assumed one of his neighbors must be hiding in the vent. They did that sometimes. He would often see ghosts standing in odd places, and he finally deduced that his neighbors must be hiding nearby when he noted that he had seen those same ghosts following one of the neighbors bringing him groceries one week.

He walked towards the exit of his apartment building, steadily ignoring the ghosts watching him with dead eyes. He disliked that stare. Most ghosts had unfocused eyes that they used to stare at anything that happened to catch their sparse attention. But worse still were the ghosts with _weird_ eyes. Like Shisui, who's right eye was a void that devoured the flesh around it, or...

He shuddered. He hated thinking about them as they haunted his memories. Sasuke's ghosts, nearly all of whose eyes burned like fire. In class, the raven-haired boy would sit, leaning forward onto his desk, head in his hands, as his ghosts lurked around him, whispering hateful words into his ears. Sasuke didn't hear them, not like Naruto did, but Naruto was certain that something of what they said reached the boy, just as he was unsure of the purpose of the black chains that connected those ghosts to Sasuke through his heart.

Naruto knelt, gasping, as he clawed at his face, trying to push out the thoughts of those hateful spectres with pain. Blood pooled into his eye from the scratch, and he managed to get up. The people walking by glanced nervously at the blonde, but hurried past. Naruto paid them no mind, and staggered to his feet. Pain usually helped him clear his head.

Pain was the only constant that he knew.

 _Yamanaka Ino's POV:_

Ino glanced worriedly at the clock. Naruto was going to be late again today, it seemed. She sighed. What had happened? One day, Naruto was fine, slowly warming up to her, Chouji, and Shikamaru, and then, suddenly, when Sasuke returned to class, it had all come undone at once.

Naruto would shrink into his seat, shuddering, as the lesson went on, he couldn't pay attention to the lesson for extended periods, eyes, darting around, glancing everywhere but at Uchicha Sasuke, as he shook. The first day it had happened, Ino had tried to call Iruka's attention to Naruto, but when she brought it up, Naruto wheezed out that everything was fine, though nobody believed him. Ino could tell that Iruka had his concerns for the blonde as well. After classes, Iruka often called Naruto over to him, as he re-summarized the lesson for the boy. Outside of class Ino would try to find Naruto, but she had no idea where to look. The instant that Iruka would finish helping him catch up, Naruto would dash away, not to be seen until the next day. She was really worried about him.

Iruka cleared his throat. "Alright, class. Time to begin. Today, we will be going over Shuriken techniques, and how to properly gauge the trajectory. Follow me outside, everyone." As everyone was standing up, the door to the hallway quietly opened up. Ino glanced over, though her eyes widened when she saw who it was.

"Naruto, what happened to your face?" She asked, horrified. Naruto had a series of gouges on his left temple, and his eye had some blood in it.

Naruto hesitated, before replying, "...Nothing." Ino was preparing to barrel into this issue, but she was interrupted by Iruka.

"Naruto! You're late to class again. You know what this means, don't you?" Iruka sternly said, eyeing Naruto's scratches with concern.

"Yes sir." Naruto replied, eyes dull, in a dead voice. Ino was really starting to get worried for him.

Everyone filed out of the room, with Naruto bringing up the rear. Iruka grabbed Naruto by the shoulder, but Ino wasn't close enough to hear their exchange. She saw Naruto nod and murmur something, before Iruka let him pass, eyes filled with worry.

Throughout the exercise, Ino glanced over at Naruto, who was standing as far away from Sasuke as he could. She couldn't understand why Naruto disliked Sasuke so much. From what she could remember, Sasuke hadn't done anything to Naruto before his leave of absence from class, in fact, Sasuke had been one of the few kids that had treated him politely. She could see Naruto shivering, though she couldn't fathom why. Wasn't it warm out? She watched as Naruto's twitching fingers completely failed to throw the shuriken with the slightest accuracy. She turned to her own target and sent her own projectiles at it, one at a time. She had struck the target with 3 of her 5, and one had even hit it in the center. She smirked to herself in private victory, before her grin fell from her face, and she turned to look at Naruto again. He had stopped shivering, and he was staring at his hand. She gasped. His hand was bleeding really heavily! She opened her mouth to shout to Iruka, but stopped when she noticed that Naruto wiped his hand on his pants, and brought it back up to look at it again. His cut was gone.

The breath she had been taking in to power her shout slipped out of her. "...What?" Naruto glanced around when he heard the whispered exclamation.

"...I heal pretty fast." He murmured. She glanced at his temple. The scratches were gone.

"Wow, Naruto, that's pretty neat!" She exclaimed. He smiled briefly, before he glanced back down at the shuriken in his hand. He began to throw his shuriken again, this time with at least the semblance of aiming at the target. Ino smiled, inwardly relieved. Whatever was wrong with Naruto recently was solvable, and she, Yamanaka Ino, was going to find out how.

 _Naruto's POV:_

Since he had been able to hit the target with the shurikens a few times, Iruka didn't need to help Naruto after class today. He started to trudge towards his apartment. Suddenly, something hit him in the back and bowled him over.

"Oh no, you're not getting away from us today, Naruto. We're going to find out what has been happening to you recently." Ino stated, determined look unwavering. She was holding him down, while Chouji and Shikamaru caught up to them. She and Naruto both got to their feet, Naruto having to dust the dirt and leaves off of his pants.

"...What do you mean?" He asked, hesitantly. He flinched back as Ino snorted in rage, taking a step backwards away from her.

"Naruto! We are WORRIED about you! We're friends, aren't we?" She stated angrily. Naruto paused. Yeah, they were friends, right? Is this the sort of thing friends can talk about? Could he trust ANYONE with his secret? He wasn't sure. How could he be sure?

Ino could see the conflicting emotions on his face. She sighed, and said, "Alright, here's the plan. YOU," she pointed at Naruto, "Are coming with US," here she gestured to herself, Chouji, and Shikamaru, "To my house. And THEN, you are going to tell us what's going on, because we are FRIENDS, and we _want to help you._ "

Naruto's eyes started tearing up. He nodded, not trusting himself to speak at the moment. Ino grabbed his hand. "Great! Then let's go." She started pulling him down the street, a panting Chouji and a grumbling Shikamaru not far behind.

* * *

10 minutes later

* * *

Naruto and his friends were sitting down in one of the Yamanaka clan meeting rooms. Ino had had a quick word with her father, and made sure that nobody else would be coming into the room.

Ino sat down with the rest of them and gave Naruto a pointed look.

He wasn't even sure how to begin. "Um. Uh, w-what do you want to kn-know?" He stammered out.

Ino nearly exploded. "Gah, Naruto, we want to know what's up with you lately! You can't pay attention in class, you run away from us whenever you can, and you avoid Sasuke like the plague!"

He shrank back into his seat. "Um... have you guys... ever... heardofghosts?"

 **Author Note:**

 _ **So... those of you who care, here's the sitch-ooh-ayy-shun.**_

 _ **Recently, you might have noticed that this story went... for a few months without being updated. I'm here to announce that this hiatus is (probably) over!  
See, in order to write this... kinda-slightly-little-bit-depressing story, I need to be in that mindset.**_

 _ **I've fallen back into depression, which means this story is back on the tracks!**_

 _ **...Yay?**_


	5. Friends and Enemies

AN: Let's see how long I can keep up this daily update schedule! I made a pact with a friend that I would try to keep this up for at least a month, so look forward to frequent, (if not daily) updates for a while! (They might be a little bit shorter than normal though, I'll probably end up combining these first few chapters someday down the road.

Review Responses:

 **madeyemoody95:** Thanks a ton for your concern, and honestly, writing when I'm depressed lets me vent that depression into the story itself, which... makes for a depressing story, but a slightly less depressed me!

 **Xnekochix:** Thanks! Do you think you could tell me what I'm doing to "keep people's interest"? I can't actually analyze my own writing style that well.

Chapter 5

 _Yamanaka Ino POV:_

Ino frowned, furrowing her brow. "Ghosts? Yeah, we've heard of ghosts. What does that have to do with this?" What was up with this?

Naruto shrank further back into his seat. "Ghosts. Um. I can see them. I always have. They're everywhere, and they scare me." ...What.

They were all silent for a moment. Suddenly, Ino shouted, "What! Do you honestly expect us to believe-!?" A hand quickly covered her mouth. "Mmph?! Mm!"

Shikamaru removed his hand from her mouth. "Wait a moment. Naruto. What do you mean by ghosts?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto, who had curled up when Ino began shouting, unfurled slightly. "Just what I said. I can see people that aren't there. I always have. I didn't know they were ghosts until the Sandaime took me out of the orphanage. Ghosts follow around people, though I don't know what makes a ghost decide who to follow." Naruto had taken out his puzzle cube in the middle of his speech, and was fiddling around with it while staring at the ground.

Ino realized that Naruto must be serious about this, began to get worried for his mental health. "Naruto, do you _really_ believe that you can see ghosts?"

Naruto coughed, and tears sprang to his eyes as he began to laugh, making Ino's worry for the boy skyrocket. "Believe? Ha! I wish they were fake. You wanted to know why I avoid Sasuke? It's because he has _dozens_ of ghosts following him around, and they're so hateful! They whisper into his ear all throughout class, and they nearly fill the classroom! I can barely think straight when I'm in the same room as him! But I promised Jiji that I'd come to class, so I can't run out. It's torture..." Naruto began to sob quietly.

Ino and Shikamaru looked at each other with looks of extreme worry. Chouji's jaw was slack, and there was a lack of motion from his bag of chips to his mouth, which vastly expressed his shock.

Ino was extremely afraid for Naruto by now. " _Shikamaru. What do we do about this?"_ She hissed towards her friend.

Shikamaru ignored her. "Naruto. When do you first remember beginning to see these ghosts?"

Naruto looked up, eyes wet. "I told you, didn't I? I've always seen them. I used to be unable to tell the difference between them and real people, so I couldn't talk to anyone out of fear that they would misunderstand. I try to avoid talking to the ghosts too, but sometimes they notice that I can see them. I met Sasuke's older brother a week before the massacre, and one of the ghosts following him spoke to me. It told me that my abilities to see the dead might be abused by people, so I've been trying to keep it secret, but, but..." He took a gasping breath, "But you guys are my friends, and I don't know what to do!"

Things were beginning to fall into place in Ino's mind. She had seen how people treated Naruto, even if she couldn't understand _why_. If that sort of treatment had been going on for his entire life, then it was obvious that he would have issues. Frankly, this was far from the worst case scenario, even if it wasn't ideal. "Naruto. Do any of _us_ have any ghosts following us?" She asked, slightly apprehensive of his answer.

He seemed to calm down a little at this. "No, none of us have any ghosts. But your dad..." He breathed heavily here, "Your dad has a lot, nearly as many as Sasuke." Ino was uncertain as to how to respond to this, so she ignored it for now.

"Anyways, Sasuke's ghosts are easy to figure out. The massacre... well, that's where they come from. How many ghosts did you say that he has?" Ino said, seeing if she would be able to pick up any more clues on Naruto's mental state through this line of questioning.

"I've never tried to count them, before. I don't want them to notice I can see them." Naruto whispered. He was staring at the floor while clenching his fists.

Shikamaru spoke up, a calculating look on his face, "Hmm, Naruto... so Sasuke has a lot of ghosts, which would obviously be his family members that died in the massacre. But you also said that Inoichi has a lot of ghosts? I hadn't thought that too many of his family members died, and he's far from the last member of his clan, so even if it was his family they would be spread out more among the Yamanaka clan, wouldn't they?"

Ino noticed the direction he was taking this. "So what makes the ghosts choose who they follow, right?"

Naruto was confused, but he still replied. "I don't know, sorry."

Shikamaru shifted on his seat a little. "Hmm... It's a troublesome situation, alright. But Naruto... I think I believe you."

Naruto smiled, as Ino's jaw dropped. "Ehh!?" She exclaimed.

* * *

 _Naruto's POV:_

After Shikamaru's surprising statement, he suggested that everyone should go home, and that he would have more for them to discuss the next day.

It was dark outside now, so Naruto began slinking towards his apartment building. As he got closer and closer to his apartment, a fog began to rise and obscure his vision. He wasn't sure why, but something about this fog felt... off. The hair on the back of his neck began to raise up. He was only a block away from his apartment building now, but he could no longer see further than 2 feet in front of him. This felt seriously wrong.

What was going on here? He had never seen a fog so thick before! He ran up the walkway to his apartment complex, when he ran into someone.

"Oof!" Naruto stumbled backwards and landed on his rear.

"Ah, my apologies. Are you hurt young man?" A voice called out through the fog, as an extended hand reached towards him. Naruto uncertainly grasped the appendage, and was pulled to his feet.

"This fog is exceptionally dense tonight, don't you think?" The voice stated conversationally.

"Um, who are you?" Naruto quavered.

"One moment young man, allow me to clear this up a bit. Then, the unseen man made a hand seal. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Naruto covered his face as a rush of wind passed by him in a swirl, clearing up the fog. After the wind died down, he looked back up, and his heart nearly stopped.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name," Here, the man gestured to himself with his uninjured arm, "is Shimura Danzo." The man had a bandage on his head, covering his right eye, and one of his arms was in a cast.

But Naruto's attention was more focused on the dozens, no, _hundreds_ of ghosts swirling around the man, moving through him, through each other, and through Naruto.

And then Naruto knew no more.


	6. Shadows in the Roots

AN: Still doing this daily thing! Yay! (Expect a lot more cliffhangers now that I am doing so many more chapters more frequently.)

Review Responses:

 **bluebug00:** I mentioned you because your review a bit ago reminded me of the existence of this story. So... yeah.

 **madeyemoody95:** Danzo showing up early is never a good thing for Naruto in a fic. XD

 **Tomb Raider and Walking Dead:** Yeah, I think that this sort of thing is a great outlet for those feelings.

 **Siatuvai1002:** I'm not out to make a romantic story here. Any pairing(s) that happen in this story (Of which NaruxIno is definitely not _impossible)_ , are definitely going to take a back-seat when it comes to _plot._

Chapter 6

 _Nara Shikamaru's POV:_

That night, Shikamaru lay on his bed, thinking. Regardless of what Ino might have thought, there was at least one thing that Shikamaru took seriously, and that was friendship. He may have been pulled into the whole deal of befriending Naruto by Ino, but by now, he genuinely cared about the kid. Shikamaru could tell just by looking at him that he had it rough. The whole explanation for Naruto's behavior may have sounded a bit crazy... but it also fit. Naruto hadn't seemed like he was lying, and it answered most of the obvious questions about him. Naruto was constantly glancing at empty spaces in the room and then averting his eyes. Naruto was afraid of most adults, especially adult ninja. Naruto nearly ran to get away from Uchicha Sasuke any point that he could, and whenever trapped in the same room as him, he shivered and cowered. By this point, most of the other students in their class avoided Naruto, because frankly... the kid was pretty weird. But the ghosts answered most of these questions.

Now, Shikamaru's problem lay in the fact that nobody else could see them. Now, it wasn't as far fetched as it may seem, from that alone. Perhaps Naruto had a strange bloodline that allowed him to see the dead? It was far from the craziest thing, seeing as there were clans out there that could spit poison, manipulate their bones, and even _swap bodies with people._ Honestly, the Yamanaka mind jutsus might not be a bloodline, but things like that were _possible_ dang it.

Shikamaru lightly dozed off while considering the implications of Naruto's strange power.

 _?'s POV:_

It was evening again. The spirit stood, motionless and silent, in front of the Memorial Stone as it always had. It stared at a particular name on the stone. ' _I was unable to get my name on this stone... Brother, why...'_ Mumei Michino was once a proud genin of Konoha, but near the end of the third shinobi war, he had come down ill with a terminal disease. His illness incapacitated him throughout the end of the war, in which his brother, Eruda, had perished. He had been unable to attend his brother's funeral, but he had been proud to know that his brother's name was etched into the Memorial Stone. In his final days, his only regret was that he was unable to go down doing Konoha's work, and thus, was unable to have his name placed on the Memorial Stone. He despised the fact that now, as a ghost, he was inconsequential to the world. Nothing he had done in life merited recognition, and he was now incapable of influencing the world in any way. He had become obsessed with the stone in his final moments, and after his death, he clung to it. It was the one thing tying him to the world.

He could feel the pull on his essence by some unseen hand. But his grasp of the stone was more firm, more solid. He wanted to stand by the stone more than the other world wanted him. But it was patient, he could feel the insistent grip of it on his soul, waiting for the moment when he finally lost his hold on the corporeal.

He heard footsteps coming up the path to the stone, but he paid them no mind. He knew they would pay _him_ none, anyways. When the approaching figure walked up to the stone, and propped something up against it, he glanced over. Wait, was that...?

"Wake up young man, I have something important to show you." Shimura Danzo spoke.

It was! Shimura Danzo, one of the pillars of Konoha! Mumei once wished to be able to catch some of Danzo's attention, if he had that, then he would have been able to progress and be acknowledged a true shinobi of Konoha! ...Alas, he was not talented enough to catch his eye. Whoever this child was, Mumei felt a pang of jealousy for him.

The child woke up, looked around blearily, and suddenly leaped to his feet. "You!" He shouted, then quieted down. "Um, where did you take me?" He backed up against the stone, looking around nervously. The child glanced around and... wait, why did the boy look at him, Mumei? How odd. Was there something behind him?

"You want to be a ninja, I hear. I am known as Shimura Danzo. I am one of the Shinobi Elders on the council." The elderly man stated. Mumei snorted, as he knew that Danzo was _far more_ important than he was making himself out to be. Wait... did the boy glance at him when he snorted?

"This is a very important place to Konoha, Naruto." The boy stiffened when Danzo said this, presumably he hadn't told the man his name, not that Mumei would have expected Danzo to be ignorant of any child in the academy. Danzo always had made it a point to know who was going to be the next generation of the village's ninja. "This, is the Memorial Stone. Written here are the names of ninja who died in the service of Konoha." Mumei growled at the reminder, causing Naruto to flinch. This child _could see him._ What?! Could it be...? If it were so...

"...Countless numbers of my students and contemporaries have their names on this stone. My goal is to strengthen Konoha to the point where such sacrifices are no longer needed." Danzo said, back straight, gazing up into the sky. Mumei certainly thought the pose looked noble and dramatic.

But the effect was wasted on Naruto, who could hear things other than Danzo's words.

 _'Lies! Lies! Lies!'_ One tortured soul chanted.

 _'Yout took my sons! You took my sons and made them kill each other! You monster!'_ Another specter wailed.

 _'You didn't do these things for Konoha, you psychopath! You did them out of greed! You'll stop at nothing for the Hokage's seat!'_ Yet another ghost grimly stated.

Naruto collapsed, hands clutching his head. "No more! I don't want to hear them anymore!" He began to sob.

Danzo's gaze sharpened. "So you _are_ as mad as I've heard. Pity, I had hoped you merely needed strict guidance. Hiruzen truly was too soft on you." He turned and walked away down the path, leaving Naruto by the stone.

As Danzo's ghastly entourage left the clearing, Mumei hesitantly walked towards Naruto. _"Uh, hey, Kid?"_

Naruto's head shot up. "Ahh! Please, don't come near me!"

Mumei stopped where he was. _"Relax, kid. I don't bite! But, how can you see and hear me?_ Nobody _can see ghosts!"_

In stead of answering, Naruto stumbled to his feet and ran back towards his apartment. Mumei, only slightly discouraged, floated determinedly after him.

Unseen to Mumei, a thin ethereal chain connecting him to the Memorial Stone snapped.


	7. Update Notice

A strange glitch is devouring my chapters just before I save them to post. I'm going to try to figure out what's going on, but it ate today's chapter RIGHT BEFORE I POSTED IT. Argh. I'll try to rewrite it tomorrow, but man did that kill my mood.

Sorry guys.

 **This will be replaced with the real chapter within the next twelve hours. The chapter after that will also be posted tomorrow, to place me back on schedule.**


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